Ammonite

By: Nicola Griffith

Narrated by: Gabra Zackman

Length: 13 hrs and 29 mins

Publisher's summary

Change or die: the only options available on the Durallium Company-owned planet GP.

The planet's deadly virus had killed most of the original colonists - and changed the rest irrevocably. Centuries after the colony had lost touch with the rest of humanity, the Company returned to exploit GP, and its forces found themselves fighting for their lives. Afraid of spreading the virus, the Company had left its remaining employees in place, afraid and isolated from the natives.

Then anthropologist Marghe Taishan arrived on GP, sent to test a new vaccine against the virus. As she risked death to uncover the natives' biological secret, she found that she, too, was changing, and realized that not only had she found a home on GP - she herself carried the seeds of its destruction...

©2002 Nicola Griffith (P)2020 Tantor

Excellent & Engaging

It’s clear that NG is very interested in deep world building, with characters that the reader experiences as whole people. Reading this book gave me such insight into her as a writer, but too, it stands alone as an entire creation into itself. Selfishly, I would love a sequel—but I am also left satisfied.

Echoes of Ursula K. Le Guin, Clarke, C.J. Cherryh

This was a thought-provoking, philosophical tale of courage and aching, bleak beauty. Marg is a compelling character, insightful and with a rock-hard dignity that drives this tale of a world both like and unlike Earth. Griffith delicately balances the anthropological observation with a deeply personal and harrowing tale of a woman in search of herself. At times I would have sworn I was listening to/reading some of the best work of Cherryh, Clarke, and Le Guin. Well deserving of all the accolades. The reading and voice acting of the audio version was superb and nuanced.

Better then I first thought!

This book was very interesting, it made you think about a lot regarding humans and what it is to be a woman & a different way of life. The author did a great job explaining all the different ideas and made you really see a clear picture of what they were going through. I really enjoyed this book! It was a great unexpected find!

great social sf

A great work of social SF, up there with LeGuin and Tepper. highly recommended to fans of the above.

Loved it!

Absolutely loved it. Great read. I must say that I was sorry it ended.

Women Are People

I love this book and maybe the best part of all was the two minute epilogue by the author. Yes, "women are people". Uese contain everything that is in humanity, both good and bad. And on this planet women begin to become even more.
Reading this in the Time of Covid, it is also wonderful to imagine a virus that would be evolutionary and help us become more alive. I would love to see that beautiful planet, drink the tea, send message by birds, listen to the stories -- if I could survive the serious difficulties as did Marg, who discovered herself there.
The narration was great; it's narration like this that makes me really enjoy Audible books.
The story had several interwoven threads/perspectives but still was easy to follow in audible form. Highly recommended.

great audiobook

really liked this book and I wish there was a sequel to listen to. highly recommend.

FANTASTIC SPEC FICTION FROM THE EARLY 90'S

This book does work in 1992 that nobody else has done since until quite recently. It's definitely very forward-looking, and fun to read today.
Creating a many faceted world of only women with depth and authenticity - this should perhaps not be too challenging for an author of today. But believe me, 30 years ago there was no place on the shelves for such a story. The sci-fi shelves were relatively well stocked with Male-Dom-Female-Slave pulp a'la the puerile fantasy of Roger Zelazny. Griffith'snovel is as genuine and as diametrically opposite to this common sordid style.
The world of Grenchstom’s Planet - known to all as Jeep - is a complex world that is effectively being settled in the most recent subsequent wave by humans. An indigenous virus seems to infect all who come to the world, killing all men, and many women. The virus conveys subtle but also powerful changes in the minds of survivors, allowing them to enter a trance state (which can be shared) that opens access to ancestral memory and plays a role in the mysterious capacity of these women to reproduce - bearing children who are not mere clones of their mothers. What is the history of now indigenous population? How can they procreate? Do they have anything that will contribute to profits for The Company - a self serving mega corporation that has the sector in its pocket.
These questions revolve around in the thoughts of Marguerite Angelica Taishan, as she contemplates taking the vaccine - and the associated plunge - into the deep & interwoven mysteries of the world Jeep.

Interesting idea - flawed execution

First the bad. Written in the 1990s, it feels a bit dated in regards the technology and inadequately researched regarding the virus given all we've learned during COVID. Performances are always subjective and accents are difficult to do well - it seems - for voice actors reading audiobooks but for all the Welsh and Mexican references the accent sounded eastern European to me - I couldn't get the idea out of my head that Melania drumph was the narrator.

The idea of a group of people dealing with a strange virus on an isolated planet on behalf of a powerful capitalist enterprise and a captured government is an interesting and timely story. Good characterization. Enjoyable writing style. Refreshing point of view with an afterward by the author that is sadly still all too relevant almost 30 years later.

I wish I had read the book rather than listened to it.

pretty good for the 1990s

It was nice to listen to a serious lesbian book without stupid erotica thrown in. And the premise is very good.
It's very good for a book from the 1990s! The narrators voice is beautiful and suits the novel very much.